Was Christ Nonviolent?

I know that question may seem absurd. Jesus is world-famous for his teaching and example of nonviolence, sending shockwaves through our blood-soaked history, right down to Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

But was he completely nonviolent?

Did he reject all forms of violence and all forms of violent rhetoric?

Let’s begin with Christ’s teaching.

Nonviolent Teaching

• Speaking to a crowd of people, including his disciples, Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you” (Matt 5:38-42).

Since we see Jesus standing up to evil people in the Gospels, “Do not resist an evil person” has been explained as “Do not resist by evil means” (302) or “Do not retaliate” (181).

Also, several scholars have noted that the command to “turn the other cheek” does not refer to being violently attacked because the back of the right hand would need to be used to first strike the “right cheek.” Instead the emphasis is on receiving an ancient public insult as described in Lamentations 3: “Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace” (v. 30). Additionally, when one of the high priest’s officials slapped Jesus in the face, instead of simply “turning the other cheek,” he replied, “If I said something wrong, testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” (Jn 18:23). 

• “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:43-48).

• When one of Jesus’ followers attempted to protect him during his arrest, Jesus said, “Put your sword back in its place . . . for all who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matt 26:52).

• Jesus told Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place” (Jn 18:36).

Conclusion: Christ taught his followers to reject violence against other humans and to do good to their enemies. He also explained why his followers would not fight—his kingdom is not of this world. Jesus’ words, however, should not be misconstrued to mean that we should never stand up against evil people nor that self-defense is sinful.

Nonviolent Example

• Instead of charging into Jerusalem on a horse like a typical military leader, Jesus entered peacefully on a colt (Mk 11:1-10).
• Rather than calling on his Father to send angels to defend him, he allowed his accusers to mock, beat, crucify, and kill him (Matt 26:53).
• Jesus prayed for his crucifiers and persecutors to be forgiven (Lk 23:34).
• After Jesus was raised from the dead, he didn’t seek revenge on his killers.

Conclusion: This is incredible stuff. All of our superheroes return and seek vengeance on their enemies. What Jesus did is otherworldly.

The Wider Context

We have zoomed in on isolated teachings and actions, but we must keep in mind the background. Jesus was a devout first-century Jew who lived in Israel, which was under Roman rule. Thus we must remember the Roman and Jewish backdrop to everything in the Gospels.

As a Jew, Jesus affirmed the authority of the Hebrew Bible and that Bible contains many accounts of warfare and violence, including Israel’s conquest of the land of Canaan. Further, Jesus lived in the Roman Empire. When asked about paying taxes to Caesar, rather than encouraging a revolt against the brutal Roman authorities, he said, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” (Mk 12:17). 

Finally, we should keep in view Jesus’ audience. In the Sermon on the Mount, he was not giving political advice to the governing authorities. He was a teacher without official authority talking to regular people who did not have political power.

With those qualifications stated, we should still underscore the radical nonviolent nature of Jesus’ life and teachings.

Physical Damage

So far we have focused on violence in terms of physical harm caused to other humans. What about damage to property? Did Christ ever use force that resulted in physical damage to non-human entities?

Examples of Physical Damage

• About two thousand pigs killed: Jesus drove out evil spirits from a man and allowed them to enter a large herd of pigs. The pigs then rushed down a steep bank and drowned in a lake. In response the people begged Jesus to leave their region (Mk 5:1-17).
• Fig tree withered: He cursed a fig tree because he was hungry and it didn’t have any fruit. The next morning the tree was withered (Mk 11:12-21). In this example and the previous one Jesus doesn’t use physical force, but he caused physical damage with his words.
• Coins scattered and tables overturned: In the temple courts Jesus drove out those who were buying and selling (Mk 11:15-16). Here is how John narrates the temple incident:

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” (Jn 2:13-16)

The text doesn’t say that Christ struck a human or animal with his whip or that anyone was injured by the flying coins and flipped tables, but he definitely used physical force to cause damage.

Conclusion: Jesus used verbal and physical force, resulting in physical damage.

Psychological Harm 

While many limit the meaning of violence to physical harm or damage, some expand the definition to include emotional and psychological harm. In his book The Violence of Scripture, Eric Seibert says, “For the purposes of this study, I consider violence to be physical, emotional, or psychological harm done to a person by an individual (or individuals), institution, or structure that results in injury, oppression, or death” (9). As you can see that definition does not include property damage, but it does include non-physical harm to people.

Did Christ ever cause emotional or psychological harm?

To answer that question, we must focus on Christ’s rhetoric.

Statements to Individuals

• He called Peter Satan (Matt 16:23). I think it’s safe to assume that if your leader called you Satan you would be emotionally hurt.
• He said, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” (Matt 23:27-33). People don’t usually handle criticism well and this is especially sharp criticism.
• He told a rich young man that he had to sell everything and the man went away sad (Matt 19:21-22). The text explicitly mentions the man’s emotional state.
• “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out” (Lk 13:28). Hearing that you will be thrown out of God’s kingdom would have an emotional and psychological impact.

Oracles against Cities

• “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” (Matt 11:21-24)
• As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” Do you see all these great buildings?”replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” (Mk 13:1-2)
• As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” (Lk 19:41-44)
• When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Lk 21:20-24)

Conclusion: In the style of Old Testament prophets, Jesus pronounced judgment on entire cities—Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum, and especially Jerusalem. These predictions would have certainly caused concern to the inhabitants of those cities because they include references to siege warfare and destruction.

Violent Imagery

Jesus also frequently used violent imagery in his teaching. Here are three examples.

• “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” (Jn 6:53-55)
• “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matt 18:6)
• “The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt 13:41-42)

Summary

Christ gave extraordinary teachings on nonviolence. And he left an extraordinary example of nonviolence—not retaliating and never calling for his followers to fight. We don’t have any examples of Christ causing physical harm to a human, not even when he was severely provoked, attacked, and beaten. On rare occasions, though, Christ caused physical damage. He showed aggressiveness in overturning the tables and he caused harm to non-human entities with his words. Also, his words caused emotional pain, most explicitly to the rich young ruler. Finally, he announced future divine judgment leading to physical destruction on specific cities, especially on Jerusalem, and he talked about angels throwing people into “the blazing furnace.”

Why did I bother to point this out?

Because it’s important to be honest with the data.

Some biblical scholars seem to idolize nonviolence. Any hint of God causing physical damage or destruction must be automatically rejected or reinterpreted. And they frequently use Christ’s life to justify their conclusion: God must be nonviolent because Christ is the perfect representation of God and Christ was nonviolent.

But they err in collapsing all essential knowledge of God into the cross. While the cross of Christ conveys a fundamental truth about God, we cannot know God’s work of creation, his long history of faithfulness to his people, or his work of new creation by only looking at the cross. Nor would we ever know that the one on the cross let thousands of pigs die, overturned tables, or swung a whip.

Les Bridgeman

After graduating from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, I served as a high school Bible teacher in Asia. I enjoy traveling, writing, and playing the drums. My latest book focuses on Paul’s work as a tentmaker and what it means for today.